Striving To Be Ever Better At Rancho La Puerta

The dining hall at Rancho La Puerta is surrounded by flora and fauna. | Photos courtesy of Rancho La Puerta

About two hours south of San Diego, at the base of Mount Kuchumaa in Tecate, Mexico, lies a special place that has been enhancing lives since 1940. Rancho La Puerta is the wellness resort and retreat that other wellness experiences are rooted in.

In the 1930s, the vision for The Ranch came to Edmond Szekely, a Hungarian philosopher, psychologist and natural living enthusiast, and his wife, Deborah, who dreamed of creating a summer health camp in the coastal mountains of Baja, Mexico. Their goal was the edification of mind, body and spirit and the understanding of their interdependence, which Edmond incorporated in his lectures at Rancho La Puerta.

He was well known for his wide-ranging studies on health, writings on fitness, and lectures on sustainable gardening. In 1928, he founded the International Biogenic Society, traveling widely to Tahiti, Africa, the Carpathians, France and Eastern Europe to share his teachings on philosophy and ancient religions, the nutritional value of just-picked, pesticide-free vegetables, exercise and what we today call “ecology.” He was a true visionary, decades ahead of his time.

What he and Deborah created was literally the template of modern fitness, spa and wellness retreats as we know them today. Other retreats, whether they know it or not, are based off of what the Szekelys created.

The poolside juice bar features local ingredients to boost nutrition.

In the beginning, guests brought their own tents and camped under the oak trees. They paid $17.50 for the week plus were obligated to do 21⁄2 hours of doing chores around the resort. Looking at the resort now, it’s hard to imagine its humble beginnings. Yet even then, the attraction of a healthier way of life brought people from all over the world. Today, over 140 guests descend upon The Ranch every week, and many of them return yearly.

So, what is it about this place that makes it a mecca for holistic health and wellness? Many believe it’s because Rancho La Puerta lies in a broad valley at the foot of 3,885-foot Mount Kuchumaa, where the meandering Kumeyaay Creek meets the Tecate River. Chaparral holds the slopes and foothills of the mountain in a wild embrace. When the lilacs are in bloom, huge and fantastic granite boulders erupt out of a carpet of blue. Artemisia and sage scent the air. You get the picture: It’s pretty idyllic.

Aerial yoga is one of the hundreds of classes offered each week.

According to the National Register of Historic Places, the Kumeyaay tribespeople knew Mount Kuchumaa as the “exalted high place”; in their eyes, it was the womb of the world, the place from which creation sprang, and only shamans were allowed on the summit. It was a place of initiation for spiritual leaders, while the valleys and oak woodlands below were an important gathering place for the people. Over the past 83 years, the Szekely family has expanded the property to create a 4,000-acre nature preserve that extends to the border with the United States. The mountain is also protected on the United States side.

Additionally, The Ranch is surrounded by a biodiverse landscape, a natural oasis where native live oaks line walking paths and wildflower fields blend into the surrounding chaparral. Rancho La Puerta employs many sustainable water conservation practices to ensure the landscape, pools and farms will flourish year-round.

Tres Estrellas, the 6-acre organic farm on the property, is a vibrant tapestry of orchards, intensively planted raised vegetable beds, flowers and herbs—all managed through organic and sustainable practices that serve the culinary needs of Rancho La Puerta’s dining hall and La Cocina Que Canta, The Ranch’s culinary school. The farm also contributes to Fundación La Puerta’s efforts to create an educational agricultural resource for the people of Tecate.

Guests can enjoy an early morning guided hike that combines a 2-mile walk through rolling meadows and chaparral with a welcoming organic breakfast, a tour of the gardens and an introduction to the principles of organic farming.

The entrance to La Cucina Que Canta welcomes guests for hands-on cooking classes and garden tours.

“The farm is the heart of The Ranch, and getting to share the beauty and the bounty with our guests shows them how they can take some of our gardening practices and even our recipes back home with them,” says Reyna Venegas, executive chef at Rancho La Puerta and La Cocina Que Canta. Hands-on cooking classes are also a sought-after activity for guests. One frequent visiting chef is Dr. Sabrina Falquier Montgrain, who combines her expertise as a board-certified internalist and culinary medicine and lifestyle medicine physician to empower guests to view food as healing.

Each of the 86 casitas at Rancho La Puerta has its own architectural flair.

Beyond the beauty of the landscape and architecture of The Ranch, there is a vast array of classes and notable speakers available each week. Some classes, like cardio strength training and cycling, are mainstream, while others—like cardio drum dancing, sound bath healing, chakra meditation, aerial yoga, myofascial release and gyrokinenis—are lesser known. “Our guests expect us to introduce them to cutting-edge fitness classes and explore new ways to enhance their health,” says Kristin Granillo, fitness manager at Rancho La Puerta. “We have over 40 classes each week, so there’s literally something for everyone regardless of your fitness abilities or experience.”

A strong mind is just as important as a strong body, which is why the guest speakers and teachers are paramount at The Ranch. Topics such as “Healthy Pleasures,” with Dr. David Sobel; “Inner Fitness: Love and Mindfulness,” with licensed marriage and family therapist Linda Carroll; and “The Wonders of the Enneagram,” with functional integration expert Betsy Ingalls, are just a sampling of the unique offerings.

Not surprising, the offerings at Rancho La Puerta are also advanced: biodynamic craniosacral therapy; somatic experiencing; Watsu water therapy; Xocolatl skin replenishments; Japanese restorative facials; and Feldenkrais Method sessions. Plus, the cold plunge, whirlpools and soaking tubs and reflexology rock garden all add to the head-to-toe experiences.

Guests soak in the sunset over a glass of local red wine at the Bazar Del Sol.

A week at Rancho La Puerta is to be savored and celebrated. “While the vast fitness offerings, connections to nature, delicious vegetarian and pescatarian dishes and the relaxing spa treatments are all noteworthy, it’s the friendships that guests always mention as the biggest gift of The Ranch,” says guest programming director Barry Shingle. “We all make these lasting connections, which really makes Deborah smile.”

Although Edmond passed away in 1979, his teachings and life principals live on. Deborah and Edmond’s daughter, Sarah Livia Brightwood, presides over the family business as president. Deborah, at the young age of 101, continues to live an active, healthy life that includes weekly lectures to ranch guests and a busy schedule of community activism in San Diego.